Max the Demon vs Entropy of Doom

If you read my blog you will remember I sponsored the kick-starter for the creation of this graphic novel.  The fundraising was successful; the book was published; my signed first edition arrived while I was traveling for business.  My youngest daughter read the book in one sitting and I read it when I got back.  I had very high expectations for the book and it exceeded all of them!  The book is funny, exciting, well-drawn, and educational.

I sincerely believe that comic books and graphic novels will eventually find their way into classroom curriculum and kids will learn important, difficult concepts through this important medium.  If you have kids 10-16 years old who like comic books, you should consider giving them this book for the Holiday gift-giving season.  5/5 stars.

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

I think I waited too long to read this one and therefore found it a bit dated and "old news."  It does have some good insights and is not bad.  But aspects of the selfish humanism he calls out are poorly analyzed.  3/5 stars.  There are better pop-culture business books.

The Struggle is Real

The mighty oak leaf struggles desperately to defy the wind but is torn asunder by the wind's power; but the reed bends and the wind passes through. -- Confucius (孔丘), [intentionally misquoted]. 

Leaf eating soil organisms wait all year to feast on dead oak leaves, trying to survive against their grass eating enemies until an annual Fall feast.  The struggle is life and death.  And not just the soil bacteria, but all life in the universe struggles against the laws of thermodynamics and the inevitable increase in entropy.

Our back yard oak tree (Tree-Beard) provides cool shade all summer;  he supports a tire swing my youngest daughter mounted to his might boughs.  He  breathes in CO2 and converts the Carbon to leaves and living wood.  Every year in the Fall (right now) he poops a few tons of leaves in a 4 square km surface that suffocates grass, hides dog poop, and bother our neighbors.  Every year we spend a few hours of hard labor every week picking up Tree-beard's droppings and then paying an evil monopoly too much money to sell these leaves at a hefty cost. Yes: we work and sweat to collect and deliver the goods they sell; they don't pay us; we pay them!

Some of our neighbors hire trained professionals instead of toiling in their own fields but we choose to do the work ourselves to keep our yard green and clean in our struggle to stay fit.

The struggle is real.

Ghostman by Roger Hobbs

Fantastic story!  Could not put it down, 5/5 stars, ordering the sequel now.  I am very sad we shall not see any more books from this fantastic author.
​

The Long March by Richard Fox

The story continues as heroic British Napoleonic war sea captains in space ships fight evil mutant cyborg monsters and French privateers (pirates) in epic space battles.  Still fun, with original characters and situations but I could not binge read the series because the writing is not as good as Patrick O'Brian.  4/5 stars.
​

three body problem by Cixin Liu

interesting book because it is from a purely-Chinese perspective, including moires, zeitgeist, customs, culture, ​sensibilities, attitudes.  But it seemed unmotivated and contrived to me for those same reasons (I am stuck in my own world perceptions). The story was interesting, spanning 75 years of Chinese history through the eyes of two generations of characters.  But the physics at the end, and the space alien civilization were just puke awful and ruined the book.  2/5 stars.

Albion Lost

Interesting mishmash of (bad) Napoleonic wars British affectations and heroic seamanship (think C.S. Forester or Patrick O'Brian) and futuristic sci-fi military space opera with ridiculous cardboard super-bad guy invaders.  Why did he do that? Because he is evil.  I enjoyed the first book, have started the second.  Good formula scifi, with awe-and-wonder mysterious tech, colorful, quirky good-guys.  3/5 stars.

Mr. Fox does not write British vocabulary, turns of phrase, or humor well; neither does he capture the "seaman like manner" aboard the vessels.  Otherwise it's fun.

Vanguard: Genesis Fleet book 1

Don't read all of the "Jack Campbell" books sequentially; give them a break and then the next few will be exciting again.  I enjoyed this first book in the series 5/5 stars.

Sherlock Holmes und der Fall Karl Marx

This radio play was very interesting, well-acted, with many unexpected plot twists. The author injected a few of those awesome super-human deductions that make Holmes stories fun. 5/5 stars.
​

All these Worlds

Thrilling conclusion to a great series!  I am so happy the author has chosen to write full-time and will soon produce more fun space opera with good science, wonderful characters, and great plot.  5/5 stars.
​

Thrilling conclusion of a great series.  I am so happy 

King of Thieves

I like this series and enjoyed this new branch of the story.  5/5 stars.​

Der Junge Karl Marx

We watch five or more films per week and it became impossible to review and rate them all.  This film is the best film I have seen in 2017 so far.  It captures a slice of life of industrial workers and the local politics in France, and England, as well as the passion, drive, and personality of the young revolutionary.  Gritty, exciting, engrossing, well-directed, fantastic dialogue.  We had no subtitles and sometimes the French was very fast but mostly it was simple and easy to follow.  5/5 stars.  Highly recommended.
​

Das letzte Geschenk

A radio play by Erhard Schmied with great voice acting and an interesting plot with twists and surprises.  I love radio plays and this one forces you to think about end-of-life care for aging parents, a heavy subject.  I did not like the characters and some of them were not developed well.  3/5 stars

Infomacracy

Disappointing after all the hype.  The politics and election stuff are boring.  I didn't care about the characters and the close combat fighting was silly.  2/5 stars.  Meh.
​

All these Worlds

I love these books and I hope the author continues to write more of them,  5/5 stars.
​​

Sapiens

Life changing, high-impact, fascinating book.  5/5 stars.  I love his "different" take on history, metaphysics, alternative speculations for cause & effect.  I am buying copies for everyone I know who will read the books :-).
​